Wednesday, March 24

This past Saturday, I ran the National Half Marathon as part of my training for the Pittsburgh Marathon. My initial plan was to use it as part of my 20 mile run (do 13 and then keep going) but my friend Jenni somehow convinced me race the Half, and then do a 20 mile run with her AFTER school Friday. (I think I am crazy to have agreed to that.)

So the race--I ran the Half faster than I've run any significant distance before. It was a GREAT race and Jenni was a great partner. Aside from making a rookie mistake of having Chipotle the day before and needing to take a "bathroom break" at mile 9, it was perfect. I ran somewhere in the 1:41 area (after I factor out my little break). This put me at 7:44 miles--way faster than the 8:23 miles I need to qualify for Boston! I'm cautiously optimistic...

I know I need to stop running marathons eventually--they take way too much time to train for and are not good for my body. After running this race, I decided I could maybe do halfs instead. Here are my thoughts:

PROS:1. Half marathons only take half as long.2. You still get a medal and a t-shirt.3. It's still a long enough distance that I have to train for it.4. I still feel proud of myself after running one.

CONS:1. My pride is a little wounded that I'm only doing half--not a full.2. They only burn half as many calories.

Looks like the pros outweigh the cons... as soon as I qualify for and run Boston, I'll be ready to trade my marathon shoes for half marathon shoes. Maybe. We'll see. I'm, like, addicted to running. It's strange.

let it be said, let it be written (okay, digitized) that you rock. i love running with you. I am so glad you had a crazy moment and agreed to both race the half with me and run the 20 this afternoon. does this mean i'm equally as crazy? hmmmm. now i can't wait for charlottesville! :)